Alex & Her Arse Truck

Alex & Her Arse Truck. The title may confuse you into thinking that this is the type of film easily found stacked on the shelves of a seedy back alley sex shop somewhere. But actually, it isn't anything of the sort. Instead Alex & Her Arse Truck sees director Sean Conway partake in an intimate exploration into the grimy underbelly of love (in the truest sense of the word) and obscure sexual fantasies conceived in the modern world.
The story is of a scooter riding zelophile (a person ...

Alex & Her Arse Truck. The title may confuse you into thinking that this is the type of film easily found stacked on the shelves of a seedy back alley sex shop somewhere. But actually, it isn't anything of the sort. Instead Alex & Her Arse Truck sees director Sean Conway partake in an intimate exploration into the grimy underbelly of love (in the truest sense of the word) and obscure sexual fantasies conceived in the modern world.
The story is of a scooter riding zelophile (a person who is sexually aroused by their own or their partner's jealousy) called Baby Shoes, his nymphomaniac girlfriend Alex who sells her underwear to perverts on the Internet, her black lover Nylon, a mentalist called Poubelles and a pair of drug dealing lesbians called Manina and Javotte. Itâs a movie that sticks with you long after the final image has faded away. The main narrative is easy to understand - Alex is planning on taking a bath, and her man plans on watching. Along the way we meet a geek burglar, a well-endowed swimmer, two larded drug dealing lesbians, and a pub filled with reprobate raffling off our heroineâs soiled knickers. While there are hints of other stories in all these recognizable references Conwayâs work has the overall effect of being wholly original and wildly inventive.
When it comes to Alex and Babyshoes, it is interesting to watch the dynamic of the two. Conway's twisted take on the conventional "first date" scenario sees the couple as they frolic around a dis used and vandalized building, armed with water balloons and super soakers. Their pace, wit and seeming understanding of tomorrow is amplified by the banality of their surroundings; graffiti covered walls and deteriorating societies.
Babyshoes is constantly hiding his desperate insecurities in his affections for Alex and his repulsions, fascinations and admiration for those that demand Alex. One great line from the film that sums those feelings is - "Its like my balls are gonna explode but my heart can't breathe". In turn Alex's great drive, her ever so shaky position of power and control that is almost willing itself to crumble into his arms but never will, is all an atmosphere that couples the two perfectly in their weird and perverse relationship.
As Baby Shoes, Danny Young is dynamic. He brings a real warmth to his jealousy-torn role, and his voice over narration is loaded with story enhancing emotion.Similarly, Gina Blondellâs Alex is the flawless personification of everything Conway wants to convey. Sheâs sexy, stupid, alluring, ambiguous, and ever so slightly out of reach.
These are the attributes that from Sean Conway just come straight off the bat. Throw together with this a near perfect score of music (featuring Jeffrey Lewis) and Alex & Her Arse Truck is a film of 15 minutes that you wish not to finish so soon. It could well be a precursor to a feature itself. If only.